Oh the head games we play!

Hi guys and gals, Im new here first post, thought I'd just jump right in. I need your help.

You know how writers get writers block yeah? Well I've got salesmans block. I just can't bring myself to make calls. Fear of rejection is most likley behind it and resentment of all things. Resentment that I have to make calls instead of clients beating down my door. Strange huh?

Any way Ive exposed myself to the core of my being, hopefully you will have some helpful unblocking tips.

God bless - by Print Broker

Call reluctance is nothing new or unique to you. The best thing to do is take your prospect from unaware of your existence to aware on the first call. Don't try to sell anything just reach out and let them know you're there. Send out something meaningful and informative to them then they really don't have much to resist you on.

From there make a respectful follow up call reminding them of what you sent and attemp to make an appointment to take them a little deeper into how you help customers. If they resist at this stage then try to talk them around but make sure u use it as practice and don't take it personally. Some you'll get to see and some you won't, it's a learning experience so treat it that way.

Also search this resource for any question you have, you'll find almost anything you need. - by Tony Dunne

You certainly have some real de-motivators there. Fear certainly is one.

What exactly prompts you to choose engaging in an occupation that provides you with such discomfort? There must be other vocations that would give you greater fulfillment.

You mention resentment which is interesting. Resentment often is associated with entitlement. It also is associated with those thoughts that form in our mind which are silently expressed as: "Why should I have to do this when THEY don't have to?"

Motivation is never an antidote, although there are people who try to peddle it. You have to get to the root of your de-motivators, which you are candid enough to reveal as fear and resentment. The best way to defeat those inner detractors is to OVERPOWER them.

I know a man that, when he has feared something as trite as rejection from a stranger, would sit back and daydream himself as an Allied soldier in the Normandy invasion.

That's called putting fear into perspective. - by Gary A Boye

The best thing to do is take your prospect from unaware of your existence to aware on the first call. ...... let them know you're there.

That is very solid advice. - by Gary A Boye

There are two basic causes of call reluctance. They come under the heading of "Unfulfilled Expectations"

1. The experience of repeated failure.
The experience of repeated failure is caused by the hope that you can create a good result with each call you make . The real probability of that is from 0.5 to 15 percent - depending on what you're selling and how good your prospecting list is.

Change your objective to quickly getting a "Yes" or "No" answer from each prospect and your "success rate" will approach 90 percent. You will also make and close a lot more sales.

2. Personal Rejection. If you don't immediately accept the answer "No," most people will become defensive. The longer you keep talking to them, the more they will resent and reject you. The rejection is real, personal, and you caused it. Furthermore, they will remember how you made them feel.

When you hear "No" or "I'm not interested" and you say "Okay, good bye" people feel respected. Furthermore, they will remember how you made them feel. Therefore, most of them will take your next call. - by JacquesWerth

Call reluctance is nothing new or unique to you. The best thing to do is take your prospect from unaware of your existence to aware on the first call. Don't try to sell anything just reach out and let them know you're there. Send out something meaningful and informative to them then they really don't have much to resist you on.

From there make a respectful follow up call reminding them of what you sent and attemp to make an appointment to take them a little deeper into how you help customers. If they resist at this stage then try to talk them around but make sure u use it as practice and don't take it personally. Some you'll get to see and some you won't, it's a learning experience so treat it that way.

Also search this resource for any question you have, you'll find almost anything you need.

Hi Tony Thanks heaps for that. When you say search this resource, do you means this site? - by Print Broker

What exactly prompts you to choose engaging in an occupation that provides you with such discomfort? There must be other vocations that would give you greater fulfillment.

Interesting question for a sales site. Thats what I want to find out.

Thanks for the input. - by Print Broker

Interesting question for a sales site. Thats what I want to find out.

Thanks for the input.

Many of us here share similar philosophies regarding sales such as everyone is not designed to sell.

If a surgeon mentioned that he or she had anxiety attacks whenever faced with life or death decisions during surgery, someone will eventually suggest an alternate career.

Ask yourself, when you were much younger, what did your family think of sales people? How did they treat them? Did your friends find them irritating? Was someone in your family a sales rep that never seemed to make enough money?

Consider that most of us cannot become, as an adult, what our immediate environment trained us to despise in our youth.

Shame is when you are Being outside your sense of inner self. Guilt is Doing outside your sense of inner self, and Rejection occurs when someone else points this out.

When you receive that "no" do you feel as if your identity is being trampled on? Do you feel ashamed but not know why? Does the energy just drain from your body?

If you have given sales ample time to kick in and who you are still cannot be expressed within the sales paradigm, that means you were cut out for something else. Something far bigger. That something will yield greater success, happiness, and well being.

When people are miserable for far too long, that's a good indicator that they are not in the right career.

How long would it take for you to learn that being a mortician was not the career for you?

Give sales a chance. Give it all you have but not at the expense of what you were really cut out for in life. Sales is no different than any other career in this regard. Why force it!

Remember, regional sales trainers know that over 80% of new recruits, who never sold before, will fail for this very reason. But far too many are dedicated to get you out pounding the streets and making those calls. After all, with large corporations, commission paid sales costs only what they budgeted as training costs for the year. Ultimately, trainees are an anticipated right-off. - by John Voris

Ive been in sales my whole carreer. Cheers. - by Print Broker

Hi Tony Thanks heaps for that. When you say search this resource, do you means this site?

Yes mate, i mean this site, its one of a kind and a wealth of powerful info.

Gary makes a good point, just face your fear, you'll find the reality is much less worrying than your imagination would have you believe. - by Tony Dunne

Ive been in sales my whole carreer. Cheers.

Forgive me but your question resonates with a trainee.

If you have been in sales your whole life, how long is that? I ask because someone who has sold for any considerable length of time have these issues basically solved.

Some seasoned sales reps however, simply get tired over time and have lost the drive but they are well aware of what's going on.

Also, with all of the businesses filing bankruptcy today, the sales staff are often forced to find a position that really does not fit their personality. They often shift out of their comfort zone and seek help.

Seasoned sales people usually find their niche with time. They may be successful at phone sales, but do poorly when face to face with the prospect and visa versa. That is because it is a myth that the average sales rep can automatically shift and sell anything with equal success. These people often have to learn this hard way. You don't sell Tupperware the same as Lear Jets to executives.

(In fact, I had a client who was not only a in sales but was a sales trainer and business consultant. He had anxiety attacks while calling prospects. We solved his problem)

Over time, most sales people naturally lock into a successful path that excludes methods appropriate for other products and services. They often need help in the face of a major change.

So, I need more information to offer any effective advice. - by John Voris

Confidence in your sales competence overcomes lack of motivation and all but your deepest fears. - by JacquesWerth

Confidence in your sales competence overcomes lack of motivation and all but your deepest fears.

This is very true however, confidence only occurs when what you are Doing conforms with your inner Being or sense of self.

The difference between a surgeon, mortician, cop and engineer is not just choice or talent or education. There is an intrinsic unchangeable self that enables and motivates each person to reveal their own unique confidence to become competent.

Triggers like rejection tell us we may not be on the right path or we are on the right path with an obstacle that needs moving. We simply need more time to decide.

Everyone possess the capacity of Being confident.However, to perform with confidence depends on what we are asked to Do.
This is why we can be confident even in the face of the lack of competence.

I have been confident that I can sell but that did not overcome my fear or lack of motivation.

I was also confident of my competence but that didn't matter either.

Once I discovered what really caused my fear that others had missed, I was then motivated to demonstrate the competence that was always present.

Nevertheless, my fear served me well. It reminded me of the distinction between having the right problems in life and the wrong problems. - by John Voris

Then, why have we been able to train so many engineers and consultants to be excellent salespeople?

I believe that most people can become expert in more than just one field of endeavor. If fact, I know of many who have done that. - by JacquesWerth

Then, why have we been able to train so many engineers and consultants to be excellent salespeople?

I believe that most people can become expert in more than just one field of endeavor. If fact, I know of many who have done that.

I fully agree. However, in which role did they find the most enjoyment?

I too knew of excellent salesmen and women who had very different beginnings. However, it would be later learned that there were inherent similarities of function between their past and current position. For example, there are many similarities between a consultant and sales rep.

An engineering firm will train an engineer to sell the proposal rather than attempt to train a sales rep to be an engineer.

As a firm dedicated to selling project proposals, the sales rep must speak the same esoteric language of the prospect in order to have a proposal accepted.

So, let me rephrase: there are clusters of career opportunities that will offer us happiness and wellbeing. Each career, will have something in common with the others but most importantly, they all will conform to his or her sense of self.

If this conformity does not exist, sustained dissatisfaction and under-achievement is guaranteed.

My major thrust here is to treat sales like any other job. When someone doesn't like being a bartender no one suggests he or she should attend a "Motivational Seminar."

Friends would say, "... give it time and if it doesn't work out--look elsewhere."

Too many people simply stay in sales far too long. In entry level commission sales positions, the unspoken rule is often quitters are losers.

If Print Broker is in touch with fear and resentment, why persist? He may have grown out of sales and it's time to move on--that does happen as you know.

I think were on the same page. If not, we must be at least in the same chapter. :) - by John Voris

Forgive me but your question resonates with a trainee.

If you have been in sales your whole life, how long is that? I ask because someone who has sold for any considerable length of time have these issues basically solved.

Some seasoned sales reps however, simply get tired over time and have lost the drive but they are well aware of what's going on.

Also, with all of the businesses filing bankruptcy today, the sales staff are often forced to find a position that really does not fit their personality. They often shift out of their comfort zone and seek help.

Seasoned sales people usually find their niche with time. They may be successful at phone sales, but do poorly when face to face with the prospect and visa versa. That is because it is a myth that the average sales rep can automatically shift and sell anything with equal success. These people often have to learn this hard way. You don't sell Tupperware the same as Lear Jets to executives.

(In fact, I had a client who was not only a in sales but was a sales trainer and business consultant. He had anxiety attacks while calling prospects. We solved his problem)

Over time, most sales people naturally lock into a successful path that excludes methods appropriate for other products and services. They often need help in the face of a major change.

So, I need more information to offer any effective advice.

Hi John, I own and run my own business. Im 45 and have been selling on some capacity or another since I was 19.

How did you solve the Sales trainers problems with anxiety? - by Print Broker

Yes mate, i mean this site, its one of a kind and a wealth of powerful info.

Gary makes a good point, just face your fear, you'll find the reality is much less worrying than your imagination would have you believe.

Cheers mate, thanks for the suggestions and thoughts guys, look forward to chating with you on other threads. - by Print Broker

You certainly have some real de-motivators there. Fear certainly is one.

What exactly prompts you to choose engaging in an occupation that provides you with such discomfort? There must be other vocations that would give you greater fulfillment.

You mention resentment which is interesting. Resentment often is associated with entitlement. It also is associated with those thoughts that form in our mind which are silently expressed as: "Why should I have to do this when THEY don't have to?"

Motivation is never an antidote, although there are people who try to peddle it. You have to get to the root of your de-motivators, which you are candid enough to reveal as fear and resentment. The best way to defeat those inner detractors is to OVERPOWER them.

I know a man that, when he has feared something as trite as rejection from a stranger, would sit back and daydream himself as an Allied soldier in the Normandy invasion.

That's called putting fear into perspective.

Nice suggestion, Thanks Gary. - by Print Broker

Forgive me but your question resonates with a trainee.

If you have been in sales your whole life, how long is that? I ask because someone who has sold for any considerable length of time have these issues basically solved.

Some seasoned sales reps however, simply get tired over time and have lost the drive but they are well aware of what's going on.

Also, with all of the businesses filing bankruptcy today, the sales staff are often forced to find a position that really does not fit their personality. They often shift out of their comfort zone and seek help.

Seasoned sales people usually find their niche with time. They may be successful at phone sales, but do poorly when face to face with the prospect and visa versa. That is because it is a myth that the average sales rep can automatically shift and sell anything with equal success. These people often have to learn this hard way. You don't sell Tupperware the same as Lear Jets to executives.

(In fact, I had a client who was not only a in sales but was a sales trainer and business consultant. He had anxiety attacks while calling prospects. We solved his problem)

Over time, most sales people naturally lock into a successful path that excludes methods appropriate for other products and services. They often need help in the face of a major change.

So, I need more information to offer any effective advice.

No problem John, Im probably acting like a trainee which is part of the problem I guess, but Ive picked up some useful ideas here. At this point in time I am not in a position to chose another carreer. But to be fair I'd rather not have to sell. That said when Im up and running and in the zone I love it. I like meeting people and helping them out as best I can.

Cheers

Phil - by Print Broker

Some final words before we close this thread.

At SalesPractice, we get a lot of new members posing questions, and sometimes voicing frustrations, on that part of selling we call prospecting. Print Broker specifically referred to it as "making calls."

When we learned more about that member, we saw a person that had been selling for 26 years, and, is a business owner. Certainly that person is doing many things right.

Because of the preponderance of topics here that are related to that one single facet of selling, prospecting (often it's cold calling), which could aptly be categorized as marketing, it's easy to ignore the bigger picture.

Two members seized an opportunity to relate some excellent material. John Voris took us behind the scenes to examine, for all our benefits, some of the mental constructs that determine our career choices. Tony Dunne compartmentalized the steps in the initial engagement of a prospect, and showed how to break our objectives into simple task completions. Valuable stuff.

Print Broker, in spite of some current frustration with that specific area of sales/marketing, must know as we all do that the true marketing of any service is IN the service itself. My guess is that the member shows enough tendency for self examination to have that area covered. To further encourage those pluses, I'll repeat here one of the Four Critical Understandings about selling that lie at the core of this site's powerful intention to make advances in sales education.

Every potential customer you meet is comparing the experience they have with you to the experiences they have with others. Your success in selling comes from making the other experiences pale by comparison. - by Gary A Boye